Facebook is expected to report first-quarter earnings and revenue in extended trading on Wednesday, and investors will be watching for clues on how the social network plans to monetize its key Stories feature.
Wall Street anticipates that the company will report earnings of $1.63 per share ー down from $1.69 a year ago ー and revenue of $14.9 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Facebook ($FB) shares have rebounded close to 50 percent since December lows. The stock had weakened throughout 2018 following a series of data breaches and privacy scandals. Its recovery suggests investors may be feeling confident Facebook can weather future regulatory or privacy challenges that come its way.
That doesn't, of course, discount any more potential revelations regarding Facebook's privacy mismanagement. Facebook disclosed on Apr. 19 ー the same day that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia and the White House dropped ー that login info for millions of Instagram users had been stored in a readable format on Facebook's internal servers, Common Dreams reported.
Facebook's fourth-quarter results reinforced investor optimism. The company reported stronger than anticipated earnings and revenue, despite ongoing controversy over the company's handling of privacy and its users' data. The company's earnings jumped 68 percent since the previous year and revenue climbed by about 61 percent, CNBC reported. Facebook also saw daily active users grow in its core Facebook product, even the U.S., where active users had previously plateaued.
The company also announced last quarter it would stop breaking out active users for its core Facebook platform, instead wrapping them into metrics from its other properties. That move would likely hide stagnation for Facebook, but also could hamper bigger growth numbers from products like Instagram.
Lastly, Facebook has been laser-focused on its Stories features and messaging apps. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook will shift focus toward encrypted and private messaging, despite the company's rather checkered history with privacy. Facebook execs could share clarification on its plans to monetize Stories and unify messaging on a call with investors after the social media giant reports earnings.
Energy Impact Partners is a VC firm committed to helping the world move toward a more sustainable future. The tech-focused fund aims to reach $350 million for its Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund,' which aims to support early-stage companies working on innovative solutions. Energy Impact Partners' Managing Director Andy Lubershane joined Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Over the years we have heard a number of ways people can invest. However, have you thought about how you could invest in sneakers? Well, one platform says you can do that and more.RARE is an investment platform for sneakers that allows users to easily invest in the sneaker culture by giving them the opportunity to buy and trade shares of rare shoes and letting users own some of the most sought-after kicks at a fractional level. Rare says the goal is to empower the communities who made sneakers what they are today and give everyone a piece of the pie. CEO of RARES, Gerome Sapp, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Crypto is increasingly becoming a hotspot for criminals and fraud with cryptocurrency crime reaching a record-breaking high. reports show scammers took $14 billion worth of crypto in 2021 alone. The latest crypto scam is aimed at investors in Binance. Ben Armstrong, the founder of Bitboy Crypto, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
SES Holdings, a leader in production of high-performance hybrid lithium-metal rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, has arrived on Wall Street. The company went public via SPAC deal and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker 'SES.' Qichao Hu, founder & CEO, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss the debut as well as what lies ahead for the company.
More than 70 religious leaders have come together to sign a letter to urge Mark Zuckerberg and Meta to halt plans for Instagram for Kids. The signers claim that this new platform, currently on pause, could cause spiritual harm to young people. Lucy Kidwell, the screen-free week coordinator for the nonprofit that organized the letter, Fairplay, joined Cheddar News to discuss the issue on Safer Internet Day. "It's not necessarily the content, even, that's on these platforms, but more the structure of the app itself," she said. "It's all focused on comparison, promoting yourself, putting forward this image of perfection and this beautiful life that's really harmful to kids who can't really separate what's real and what's fake and who may not be emotionally mature enough to handle something so complicated."
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
